LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 13, 2017) – The doubles team of Elisa Koonik and Tessa van Der Ploeg earned a spot in the Oracle/ITA 2017 preseason doubles rankings which were announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association this week. The ranking qualifies the pair to compete in the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, Oct. 3-8, in Pacific Palisades, Calif. It's the first time since Sept. 7, 2012 that a Cowgirl doubles team earned a preseason ranking when Veronica Popovici and Simona Synkova entered the fall 21^st.
 
Koonik, from Tallinn, Estonia, and van Der Ploeg, from Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, enter the fall season tied for the 48^th best doubles team in the country.  They were ranked twice during the spring season including a high of 70^th on March 7 while finishing fifth in the ITA Mountain Regional Rankings. The duo finished the year 19-7 overall, 12-3 during the spring and 5-0 in MW action on the way to garnering All-Conference honors for the first time in their careers.   
 
The Cowgirls were initially scheduled to begin fall play this week at the Iberostar Classic, but didn't make the trip due to weather concerns. They will begin fall action by hosting the Wyoming Invite, Sept. 29-30, and Koonik and van Der Ploeg participating in the Riviera/ITA All-American.
 
The preseason rankings will be the only set of rankings released during the fall season, with the Oracle ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings set to return the first week of January 2018.